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Monday, November 09, 2009

24th July

Gabby and I woke up next to manimal today as Tasha had a swollen eye and 39 bites thanks to our new friends, the mosquito's. However that was the least of our worries this morning as it was bucketing it down outside and our "washed" clothes were meant to be drying, plus the tent was far from dry. After salvaging the clothes, hot porridge was on the stove but Clem came in to let us know we could go back to bed as there was no way we were being made to walk up to the glacier anytime soon. The fickle nature of the arctic climate was on display as after waiting in limbo in our tents the weather changed to crisp sunshine and we had to pack up camp to head off.

This was the first test of endurance since our packs had our house, food and belongings and for most this was a struggle, let alone for the cripples of the crew. Some people chose to do two runs but the power three trudged on with our life on our backs. My shins were playing up, Tasha's joints had a mind of their own and Gribbs' leg wouldn't keep schtum. I can admit that I didn't think I could get up the vertical climb at the waterfall but with the help of others we all managed it and Gabby even gave Alistair a mars bar as a symbol of the recent team bonding experience. After two hours we arrived at ABC greeted by cuppa soup and Rivi ta. This bliss was short lived as the ground was not the best for tents; it was either to soft or too had. Soon we gave up with pegs and decided to just use rocks. Callistair had already scavenged to get the majority of rocks on the whole flood plain but that was probably because I would steal one for the girls tents every time they went to get another one.

Gribbs and Laura came back from their second trip and we had some veg chili rice on the hob for them since we knew they would be beyond tired. Ratpacks were also handed out and there was carnage for the Svalbard ones once the news broke they had 2 chocolate bars.This was pleasantly followed by the poo barrel and poo bag routine. Basically we know the routine and no need to go into detail, especially when the tube got full...

Our night was rounded off with a visit from a herd of reindeer who were only a few metres away from our tents. As you can guess the cameras were out in seconds...